The Jesus Blog: Worst Statue Ever?

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Worst Statue Ever?

Today I find myself again researching French linguist, historian, and pseudo-scientist Ernest Renan. I'm a glutton for gluttons, it seems. This is not the first time I've made fun of the most influential anti-Semite in historical Jesus research and probably won't be the last. But today I was especially tickled by this statue in Tréguier Town Square.

At first I was offended that anyone thought it was a good idea to commemorate the man who forwarded the Khazar theory, leveraged phrenology to create hatred for Jews in Europe, and argued that Jesus became an Aryan. But upon second look, I thought that this statue might be the most fitting way to remember Renan. Not only is he slouched and tipping, his ignominious stature is juxtaposed with a most honorific lady of national pride. In fact, the more I look at this, the more I can't look away.

-anthony

2 comments:

John HundleyFebruary 25, 2015 at 2:53 PM
Yeah, wow.
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AnonymousFebruary 26, 2015 at 12:05 AM
Renan made mistakes. But the figure from the classics still seems to weigh him heavily?
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James Crossley (PhD, Nottingham) is Professor of Bible, Society, and Politics at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, London. In addition to most things historical Jesus, his interests typically concern Jewish law and the Gospels, the social history of biblical scholarship, and the reception of the Bible in contemporary politics and culture. He is co-executive editor of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

Christine Jacobi studied protestant theology and art history in Berlin and Heidelberg. She is research associate at the chair of exegesis and theology of the New Testament and apocryphal writings. She completed her dissertation at the Humboldt-University of Berlin in 2014. She is the author of Jesusüberlieferung bei Paulus? Analogien zwischen den echten Paulusbriefen und den synoptischen Evangelien (BZNW 213), Berlin: de Gruyter 2015. Christine Jacobi is a member of the „August-Boeckh-Antikezentrum“ and the „Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften“.

Chris Keith (PhD, Edinburgh) is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

Anthony Le Donne (PhD, Durham) is Associate Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary. He is the author/editor of seven books. He is the co-founder of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue and Sacred Texts Consultation and the co-executive editor of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

Brant Pitre (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. Among other works, he is the author of Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile (Mohr-Siebeck/Baker Academic, 2005), and Jesus and the Last Supper (Eerdmans, 2015). He is particularly interested in the relationship between Jesus, Second Temple Judaism, and Christian origins.

Rafael Rodríguez (PhD, Sheffield) is Professor of New Testament at Johnson University. He has published a number of books and essays on social memory theory, oral tradition, the Jesus tradition, and the historical Jesus, as well as on Paul and Pauline tradition. He also serves as co-chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media section of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Baker Academic

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Worst Statue Ever?

2 comments:

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